Cats in Bulgaria

Hope for Bulgaria’s stray cats

In Plovdiv, the second biggest town in Bulgaria, more than 10,000 stray cats suffer in the streets. Only a handful of people are trying to protect them, meanwhile there are no effective measures to control the cat population. That’s why Welttierschutzgesellschaft (WTG) together with the animal welfare organisation Streunerhilfe Bulgarien recently opened a clinic in Plovdiv to offer sustainable help for the castration of cats.

Although in Bulgaria an animal welfare law was introduced in 2008, with the aim to protect the life, health and well-being of animals, it is hardly ever applied in real life. In this Balkan country now as before it is standard procedure, to abandon unwanted offspring as well as old and sick animals and to leave them to their fate. Consequently, most animals die of deadly diseases, are killed by the road traffic or become victim of cruelty committed to animals.

CASTRATION = PROTECTION OF ANIMALS

Together with our partner “Streunerhilfe Bulgarien e.V.” we are facing this problem. By spaying and neutering stray cats in the entire town and supplying veterinary care we want to help the cats sustainably and prevent uncontrolled reproduction. Considering, that one pair of cats and their offspring can produce up to a thousand babies only in a few years, it becomes obvious, that castration is an effective measure to control the stray cat population. For this reason, we are building the first castration clinic in town.

THE CASTRATION CLINIC

Our aim is, to castrate at least 70 percent of the cat population over the next three years. In order to be successful, it’s mandatory to convince as many people as possible of the benefits of castration so that they will help to catch the cats. The majority of the Bulgarians, who look after the stray cats, are aware of the problem of unwanted offspring, but they do not have the financial means to pay for it. Therefore, Welttierschutzgesellschaft supports this clinic. Animal welfarists can bring “their” stray cats to the clinic for free castrations and thereby these people provide active help to control Plovdiv’s population of stray cats in the long term as well as to prevent further animal suffering.

Working systematically from one part of town to the next it is necessary to make sure, that the sterilized stray cats will be released exactly where they had been caught. This is done by a qualified cat catcher, who also serves as a contact as well as providing information on our program to the citizens of Plovdiv.

THE CAT HOUSE “SECOND CHANCE“

The cat house was established in October 2014 and offers old, sick and weakened cats temporary shelter. The cats receive veterinary treatment and as soon as their conditions permit, they are released back into their normal surroundings. First the cat house was based in a rented apartment, but in early 2016 it moved onto the premises of Streunerhilfe Bulgarien. The new location offers many advantages: There is no more rent to be paid and all the money goes directly to the care for the animals. There is a lot of space for the cats to sleep and to play and the animals can decide, whether to stay indoors in a warm room or go outside into a safe enclosure of about 80 square metres. Operating day and night keepers look carefully after the rescued animals. Those cats, for whom a return into the streets would be too dangerous because of their age or condition, are permitted to stay in the cat house and our partners then go searching for a forever loving home for them.

Please help us to secure the well-being of these cats on the long run and give them a chance for a life in safety.